It is imperative that the head of a suspected cervical fracture victim be immobilized before any attempt is made at moving the victim. Unrestricted movement of the head may cause serious damage to the spinal cord and result in quadraplegia. Yet such a victim may have to be extracted quickly from a burning wreckage after a collision or dragged away from a zone of danger before any first aid can be applied by trained personnel. Head brace and splints available to this date have been designed for therapeutic use and usually installed by an orthopedic surgeon in the controlled environment of a hospital. There is a need for a simple yet efficient device which could be installed quickly during rescue operatioons of a cervical spine injury victim by a policeman, fireman or paramedic.
Since traction may have to be applied to the cervical vertebrae of such victims, as part of the emergency room treatment, the splint should provide some means for this type of therapy.